


First Kiss

by youlllearntolovehowtodream



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Episode: s02e01 Broken, F/M, s01e22 A Land Without Magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-18
Updated: 2013-12-18
Packaged: 2018-01-05 02:06:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1088334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/youlllearntolovehowtodream/pseuds/youlllearntolovehowtodream
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alternate ending to the scene in "A Land Without Magic" when Belle regains her memory.</p>
            </blockquote>





	First Kiss

“Rumplestiltskin,” she called out, the name holding a familiar weight on her tongue. He stopped to turn and look at her, still wondering how this could all be real, how she could really be standing here in front of him, saying his name.

“Wait,” she said more softly, her eyes cast down in embarrassment. Still embarrassed that he had rejected her kiss, had cast her out, had made her want him even more. “I remember.” She looked up at him again, searching this new face and detecting the features she knew to be his, the thin nose, the long eyelashes, the dark brows. Catching up to him, she put a hand on his arm, as if to certify his tangibility, and reassured by the warmth and solidness of his body said with a smile, “I love you.”

 His expression of frozen anticipation melted, and he mirrored her smile, taking her in his arms.

“Yes, yes,” he whispered into her hair, surprised at how malleable she was; her head seeming to fit perfectly into his neck, her chest matching with the curves of his own. “And I love you.” It was the first time he had ever admitted out loud that he loved her, but he was no longer afraid to do so, with her body clinging to his, as if she needed him.

He pulled away from her, sliding his hands across her back and down her arms to hold her hands. “There’ll be time for that. There’ll be time for everything,” he said, turning to take a step with one hand still around hers. But she rooted herself to the ground, pulling on his hand.

“Wait.”

She blushed, her eyes shifting downwards, because what she wanted almost seemed silly, trivial, but she decided she had waited long enough. Looking back up at him, she saw him staring at her intently, waiting for her to speak, to hang on her every word.

“Can I kiss you?”

Those words chilled him to his core. He had replayed their last kiss so many times in his head that the memory seemed to burn behind his eyes. He would then think about how he had pushed her away, how he had driven her into the arms of Regina, his stomach dropping with regret. He found that he craved these moments of self-inflicted agony, that making himself relive his worst experiences brought delicious pain. He was by no means a masochist, but the pain brought with it a deep connection to the things that he had lost. He had always associated that kiss with bitterness, so when Belle asked to kiss him now, he was afraid that this kiss would yield the same acridity.

She saw him pause, but her face stayed tilted upward toward him, lashes fluttering around expectant eyes. She was waiting for him to speak with the same eagerness that he had waited for her just seconds ago. She was waiting, and she was wanting. He saw her lips, full and delicate, part, felt her eyes on his, and was struck by how patient she was. She was still looking at him with the same anticipation, and yet now her body seemed to be tensed with longing, her breath tight in her chest, collapsing inward so that he could see her collarbones. She wanted him. She wanted him. She _wanted him._ And he realized that her feelings were true, that her feelings had always been true.

“Yes,” he breathed, and she extended her neck to bring her lips to his.


End file.
